Hardware upcycle in full swing – 19% cc growth, backlog supports H2

Research evidence excerpt

Hardware upcycle in full swing – 19% cc growth, backlog supports H2

IT Services

Atea ASA (ATEA NO)

EQUITY RESEARCH Quick Take

July 15, 2026

Hardware upcycle in full swing – 19% cc growth, Price: NOK165.00

Price Target: NOK197.00 backlog supports H2

Rating: Overweight Takeaways

Key Statistics: Q2 print. Atea delivered a strong Q2 with gross sales of NOK 18.9bn (+12.5%

Symbol OSLO: ATEA NO y/y reported, +19.4% cc), driven by hardware (+21.2%) and software/cloud

52-Week Range 131.29 - 176.00 (+11.7%), while services declined 4.7% (flat cc). Net revenue (IFRS) of NOK Market Cap 18,431.0

ADV (3 mo) 112,580 10,423m came in 7.8% above the consensus average (NOK 9,668m) – a

Shares Out (M) 112.4 significant top-line beat reflecting the pull-forward from supply constraints,

datacentre-build/AI-driven and defence demand. Gross profit of NOK

Research Analysts: 2,873m beat consensus (NOK 2,839m) by ~1%, but gross margin at 27.6%

Bharath Nagaraj was 180bp below the Street's 29.4% expectation, confirming the beat was

Cantor Europe hardware-volume driven. Adjusted EBIT of NOK 320m beat consensus (NOK

+44 20 7894 7347

Bharath.Nagaraj@cantor.com 314m avg) by ~2%, with opex discipline (+1.8% y/y) partially offsetting the

margin dilution. Net profit of NOK 218m and EPS of NOK 1.96 were broadly

One-Year Price History in line with consensus (NOK 217m / NOK 1.95). The revenue-to-EBIT drop-

190 through was muted – a ~NOK 755m revenue beat yielded only ~NOK 6m

180 170 of EBIT upside – underscoring the low-margin nature of the incremental

160 150 hardware volumes. Cash flow was the weak spot: operating outflow of NOK

140 130 727m (vs NOK -111m prior year) on a deliberate NOK 1.5bn inventory build

07/25 10/25 01/26 04/26 07/26 ahead of component shortages. Net debt/EBITDA remains comfortable at